The Aged | Gyuhao (Sequel to Youth)

- 31

| Chapter Thirty - One — It's us |

Mingyu's door to his office barges open so loudly it almost makes him flinch.

He never gets scared anymore though, so it merely makes him blink, if anything.

"You fucking asshole." Jihoon curses, stumbling inside with Wonwoo on his left.

Mingyu just sighs, eyes falling back down on his computer in exhaustion, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me shitty names right now. And also don't slam the door, it needs new screws already, and I don't feel like doing that shit."

"It's a been over a fucking year since your father was thrown in prison, Mingyu-yah." Wonwoo says, "Jihoon and I have been searching for that fucker ever since he escaped. You're sitting on your ass doing nothing."

"You keep telling this gang that you're gonna find your father no matter what, but that's very hard to believe when every single one of us knows that that's not the person you're looking for." Jihoon adds, jaw clenched so hard it's honestly surprising it doesn't snap right off, "Stop lying to us and just admit you love him."

"Love?" Mingyu blinks, "What is love? Does it mean anything? Does it do anything? Because as far as I'm concerned, all it's done is tear down my loyalty to you all and it's shown me that people can spit in your face without hesitation and leave you in the fucking dirt to rot in your own, sad, pathetic, arrogant feeling of their rejection."

Silence.

Wonwoo takes a step backwards, "Who are you?" He asks, "Genuinely." And then he's turning around, pushing open the door and slamming it harshly just to piss Mingyu off.

Jihoon still stands there, looking beat down. Mingyu doesn't know how to feel.

"The night your boy got stabbed, all that ran through my mind was how much it would crush you if he died," Jihoon takes a step forward, shaking his head in disbelief, "His blood stained my hands for days and I blamed myself off and on that I should've been keeping an eye on him for you like you had asked. I blamed and blamed and blamed myself because I let the one person you care so much for in the world get hurt because I wasn't aware of the love you two shared," He says, "But, Mingyu, I saw it. I witnessed it."

Mingyu stays silent.

"When you barged into the hospital with tears in your eyes and a flush in your cheeks, I knew. Both Wonwoo and I knew that you loved him." Jihoon admits, "So, Kim, you could sit there and tell me that he means nothing to you, but we all know deep down that he's the one thing you care about— the one person you'd do absolutely anything for." Jihoon says, "You keep talking of loyalty. And it's funny because you constantly shouting that you don't love him is pretty unloyal, if you ask me."

Mingyu's eyes are burning.

He hates crying.

"Wake up and go after the real money, Mingyu." Jihoon spits, taking a few steps back as he begins to leave, "Looking for your father is important, but acting like him in the concept of a person who's absolutely incapable of love is a completely different story."

The door slams.

And Mingyu feels like he's been shot.